Website offers the stories and science surrounding the St. Louis River Estuary

To residents like Bob Cragin, the St. Louis River, which forms a far northwest border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, transcends cultural and political boundaries. To others like Lynelle Hanson, the river provides a home for birds and the opportunity to educate children about nature. Their stories and others are presented along with information and examples of scientific work going on in the St. Louis River in a new website: stlouisriverestuary.org

The “Stories and Science of the St. Louis River Estuary” site was created by faculty and staff from the University of Minnesota Duluth and University of Wisconsin-Madison with help from many partners, and with funding by the Wisconsin and Minnesota Sea Grant programs and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Janet Silbernagel, a professor of landscape architecture and environmental studies, served as the project’s principal investigator for UW-Madison.

Featured topics include wild rice, fishing, recreation, community and restoration projects. Site visitors can challenge themselves with “GeoQuests” – iPhone-based games and geocaches that highlight key places and issues in the estuary, or they can use the “deep map” to explore the ecology and history of this special place.

Thousands of people shared postings about the site and visited it when it was announced through social media channels in December. The site will be featured during the upcoming St. Louis River Estuary Summit on March 31-April 1, 2015.